W-AHEAD Celebrates India’s Giant Leap Forward in Science and Technology
On 11th May, we honor the visionaries, the great Indian Scientists and Technologists who dared to empower India, the Bharat with world class science and technology capabilities at a time when India was still struggling to come out of the clutches of its foreign dominance and building a self reliant nation of the dreams of the freedom fighters and with the vision of the crusaders of India’s resurgence as a world power.
It is worth recalling what the first Prime Minister Pt Jawahar Lal Nehru said while addressing the nation on the midnight of August 14th 1947, “Long years ago, we made a tryst with destiny; and now the time comes when we shall redeem our pledge, not wholly or in full measure, but very substantially. At the stroke of the midnight hour, when the world sleeps, India will awake to life and freedom”. In fact, the time to redeem this pledge substantially came on 11th May 1998 when Indian scientists led by Er APJ Abdul Kalam and Dr R Chidambaram tested a nuclear device in Pokhran in Rajasthan. The successful testing of the nuclear device, code-named Operation Shakti, popularly called the “Smiling Buddha” made India the sixth powerful member of the nuclear club of the world.
India’s march on the pathways of science and technology empowerment infact, began soon after the independence in 1947. With the construction of Hirakund and Bhakra Nangal multipurpose dams in 1950s and subsequently with establishment of heavy Industries like HEL Bhopal, series of BHEL at Haridwar, Hyderabad, Rudrapur, Vishakapatnam and Trichnapalli, Bhilai Steel Plant at Durg, HAL, Bharat Earthmovers, the five IITs, AIIMS and a chain of CSIR and DRDO Labs around the country, a rock solid foundation was laid from 1950s to 1960s for the agro-industrial advancement of the nation. The rise of DRDO, BARC and ISRO in subsequent years empowered India with the great capabilities of scientific and technological advancement in areas of strategic defence and enabled India’s rapid track advancement on industrial fronts.
The legacy of eminence of Nobel Laureate Bharat Ratna Sir CV Raman, Dr JC Bose and Bharat Ratna Sir Mokshagundam Visvesvaraya was so well translated into Mother India’s pride in science and technology after India’s independence by Dr Homi Jehangir Bhabha in nuclear science and Dr Vikram Sara Bhai and Dr Satish Dhawan in space science and technology. Monumental contribution to self reliance in food production was made by Dr MS Swaminathan, the Father of Green Revolution in India and likewise in White Revolution ( Self Sufficiency in Milk Production) by Dr. Verghese Kurien in the 1970s who made India a food and milk surplus country currently exporting its food surplus to many countries around the globe.
The tempo of empowering India with the grand laurels in S&T continued unabated under the visionary leadership of science and technology doyens like Bharat Ratna Sri APJ Abdul Kalam, Dr R Chidambaram, Dr RA Mashelkar, Dr Kasturirangan, Dr Sam Pitroda, Bharat Ratna Prof CNR rao, Dr UR Rao, Dr VK Saraswat and the great team of scientists and technologists of DRDO, BARC, ISRO, CDoT and CSIR who contributed to the glory of Mother India in nation building and winning India a pride position amongst the leaders in scienctific and technological advancements. These visionary builders of modern scientific and technological prowess of India continue to fire imagination of inspired minds and motivate them to think big and achieve great success that ultimately results in developing India of our dreams.
Today is also the day to rejoice the entry of India into the world space club with its most impressive landing with great presicion at the Lunar South pole that witnessed India’s Lunar lander “Vikram” rolling out its lunar Rover “Pragyan”, the lunar buggy flying the flag of India with highest esteem and global acclaim on August 23, 2023, making India the proud member of the World Space Club.
For the youth of India the time is right to think of India, of aspirations of 1.5 billion people and the demographic dividend of the presence of nearly 500 million youth currently turning towards 1100+ universities and 70,000 colleges to contribute positively towards creating India of their dreams that will be a happy and healthy abode of prosperous and developed India, translating the vision of viksit Bharat into a reality. This of course, is a tall order, but achievable with the tremendous interest of its inspired youthful minds who are looking towards STEM education, research, and innovation to empower India with capabilities not witnessed so far. This is the time to make the age of AI, ‘Advantage India’ and unleash the infinite power of AI and ML to accelerate economic development , societal transformation and also create millions of jobs for the young India without the madness of taking away millions of jobs as at present by the madness of replacing man by smart and intelligent machines.
Let us also not forget that with the advancement of science and technology, while on one hand has won Mother India an added pride in its scientists and technologists, it has also created monumental challenges such as climate change, enormous air and water pollution, and the fear of losing jobs for the millions in the recent times due to the advent of AI and ML powering ultra automation for industry 5.0 and in all sectors of human activity including the service sector and governance. Tomorrow’s science and technology professionals need to take these challenges head on and turn around the clock of scientific advancement and technology innovations towards creating a bright and wishful future for the vast humanity that looks towards science for productive engagement of its brightest minds who turn towards STEM education and scientific research and innovations with great hope and enthusiasm to make a bright career for themselves and a bright future for the humanity at large. It is this challenge that we all need to address with care, caution and with great responsibility of purpose to make a bigger meaning and sense of technological advancement for the future of the humanity at large.
We, in W-AHEAD salute our great scientists and technologists, innovators, digital warriors and the great tech-entrepreneurs on this day and express our immense pride in the contributions they have made to turn India into a global powerhouse of pathbreaking science and technology accomplishments and their contributions to nation building.
As we celebrate and rejoice our glorious accomplishments and pay our tribute to the great visionaries of science and technology of our great nation today on the National Technology Day, let us commit to a future defined by pathbreaking sciencific advancement, game changing technology innovation and sustainable development.
Let us dare to do the “impossible” and achieve the goals of Viksit Bharat@2047 with clarity, commitment and conviction.
Happy National Technology Day 2026.
The Author Prof PB Sharma is an eminent academician, founder Vice Chancellor of DTU and RGPV, Past President of AIU, President of W-AHEAD and currently is the Vice Chancellor of Amity University Gurugram.
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